Today's Readings
We could not have been saved by an alien. If God has simply created Jesus the way that he created Adam, then Jesus would have been an alien. Even if he looked like us and talked like us and seemed like us in every way, he would not have been human, he would be human 2.0. This is why Eve could not be made out of dirt like Adam, but had to be made out of Adam’s body. So she could be bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. Some people imagine that Jesus was placed inside of Mary, but this is incorrect. Jesus took his humanity from Mary, he was conceived in her, his DNA was her DNA, his body was made out of her body. Thus Jesus could save us, because his death and resurrection would only save us if a human, one of us, died and rose.
But God would not simply use a person. He respects the dignity of the nature he created. Though he created us and everything we have is his, he will not take our human nature without permission. In that moment, after Gabriel had asked, before Mary had answered, the whole world stopped, held its breath, and waited anxiously. What would she say? Everything depended on this moment. We are under the heavy burden of sin, and nothing can save us now except God, but God will not act without the permission of a girl. The salvation of the world depended in that moment on the generosity of one person. Anyone else would have said “no” or at least, “let me think about it for awhile” but Mary did not. She was courageous. She was generous. She said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.”
Mary is the mother of Jesus, and therefore the mother of God. As the mother of our Savior, she would deserve our deepest respect. She is also the mother of the Church, since Jesus, from the Cross, gave her to his beloved disciple. As our mother, she deserves our devoted love. She is the first and best disciple, the prototype of the whole Church. Our relationship with Mary should be one of respect, devotion, admiration, emulation, veneration. Jesus is our Savior, and he is Mary’s Savior too, all because she said yes.
Daily Homilies
